A Sticky (tape) subject

Old tapes bought off ebay

I know this is an older thread but will chime in here. I recently bought 20 BSAF tapes in their hard shell cases with 1960's, early 1970 country music on them off of ebay. I paid $2.50 a tape. I fast forward them and using a soft damp cloth, checked them for how much residue came off of them. Only had one of them with white substance coming off of them. The tapes didn't smell vinegary either. I recorded on one of them and it played back good. I think they are LF35 or something like that. It is so much a hit or miss when buying used tape. Actually the seller had two 20 BASF tape sales. I could only afford one of them. Oh, here's a question. Should one erase a tape before recording over it or is it okay to just record over it? Which is best?
 
You can just record over it. Now if you really want to get it quiet, find yourself a bulk tape eraser. It will get no better than that.
 
Well, I did have a bulk erraser. I pulled it out of the closet. I did have to watch a few videos on youtube to learn the proper way of using it. I bulk errased two of them. Wow! there is a difference in the noise floor. I think bulk errase is the way to go. Thanks. :beer:
 
Sony PR-150 "professional" tape?

Can anyone comment on the type and quality of Sony PR-150 "professional" tape on 7" reels? The box has no other info on what type of tape this is.
 
Well, I looked and only have one sony pr150 tape. I have music recorded on it from 1979. Carried it all over the world in my travels. Am now home bound in Oklahoma and the tape still sounds good whenever I play it. I just looked at it and it does not have any signs of sticky shed or anywhere close.
 
I have a few BASF tapes in the gray hard plastic cases that I used for awhile in the sound booth at the church I go to. They worked well.
A large majority of tapes in my collection that I have gotten over the years from flea markets have been Scotch and they seem to be the best brand out of the ones I have. I've got a Scotch tape from 1973 that to this day still plays good.
 
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I don't know about Radio Shack's rtr tapes longevity, but I certainly had good luck with their products when new. And, I don't know if it was my imagination or not, but I always found the black colored tape to be best.

One thing I can say for sure though is..... Radio Shack sold some really nice 7inch metal reels. I still have two of them in their boxes.

As for Bulk Erasures....don't do what I did and try to make your own. Years ago I read in a stereo magazine how to do that. I don't remember all the particulars, but it involved dismantleing a Transformer, turning all the U shaped (or E) shaped plates in the same direction, and taping it up. I did not have the right size transformer as recommended in the article, but I had a somewhat larger one. Hey...the bigger the better, right?..........:banana:

Finished it up, laid it down on my workbench with all my tools, and plugged that puppy in. All the lights in the area dimmed way down, the thing made a deep groaning sound, and all the tools nearby on my workbench slammed against it. Thankfully, the cord melted apart right away.:yes:

I went and sat on the front porch with a beer, contemplating my experience, and watched a power truck drive around the neighborhood.:thmbsp:
 
Zygmo said:
Finished it up, laid it down on my workbench with all my tools, and plugged that puppy in. All the lights in the area dimmed way down, the thing made a deep groaning sound, and all the tools nearby on my workbench slammed against it. Thankfully, the cord melted apart right away.:yes:

I went and sat on the front porch with a beer, contemplating my experience, and watched a power truck drive around the neighborhood.:thmbsp:
Click to expand...

Niiiice.

Radio Shack tapes were usually made by Ampex. Some are still good, some not. I've got reels of Supertape that are still ok, but they don't sound nearly as nice as my bottom of the line TDK that is 20 years older.
 
I have an old Radio Shack tape that was recorded in 1975 that is still good, yet I have a Radio Shack supertape that is basically flaking the magnetic material off in some spots.
 
Hmm, I have 3M 996 reels on both my Teac X-1000 and my Technics RS 1500. But I can't remember if that tape is original or if I put something else on the reels because they are the nice gold reels.

I thought Radio Shack used TDK at least that is what I was told when I worked PT for them. But that was in the 80's so maybe they switched from Ampex to TDK by then. I thought I also heard that TDK tape was more abrasive, but maybe that was a rumor.
 
FAB1 said:
If you need/want to bake tapes get one of the big round food dehydrators
Click to expand...

This is all you need to know about rescuing recorded audio from sticky shed. I had a number of reels of Ampex 456 1/2" and 1/4" in my home studio that had gone gooey. The food dehydrator routine made it possible to get a clean playback to transfer the material. Not nearly as dicey as using the oven, and can be done more than once if needed. My dehydrator isn't fancy- no digital controls, think I paid $5 for it at a thrift, but it did the job perfectly.
 
dr*audio said:
Ampex 631 and 641 is a brown low noise tape with no anti - static backing. It's an older tape and does not have the sticky shed syndrome. It's great tape if you can get it. Do NOT use 642. That junk got sticky within the first 5 years of life.
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I have a pile of NOS 642 (I think) that was stored under very poor conditions (humid and temperature uncontrolled), none of it is sticky, shedding or otherwise damaged despite the fact that the humidity left all of the boxes moldy. I had to throw away a few tapes that were growing mold, but the rest show no signs of trouble. The 641 that was in the same box is also fine. This stuff was part of an internal shipment from the Ampex production facilities to a lab near San Francisco in the early 80s, other than that I don't know anything about where it's been until the past few years.
 
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Back in the late 70's early 80's I used Ampex Grand Master almost exclusively. My RTR went unused from 1984 to 1998. All of my 30+ reels of Grand Master went sticky and I tossed it all. I didn't know about baking. The remaining dozen reels of Maxell, TDK Memorex. Scotch and BASF were fine and continue to be fine. So when I fully recomissioned my TEAC in 2009 I went with new RMGI. I believe in most cases it is a false economy to buy used tape. It's also not wise to run very old tape even if it's good. The old stuff before they started polishing the oxide side can be rough on the heads.

That said I just purchased a reel of NOS Ampex 407 from some of the very last runs Ampex made. I don't know if it'll be sticky but the price was right and if it's good it'll be interesting to compare it to the modern tapes.
 
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Has anyone used Scott-Tone tape. I have several NOS sealed, should these be safe. I opened one and it seems sturdy, no smell, nothing rubs off onto my fingers.
 
I've been collecting tape since the mid 1960s. I probably have between 2000 & 3000 reels of tape of various brands dating back as far as the first paper backed tape manufactured by Scotch. As a general rule of thumb, non-back coated tapes are usually OK. Back coated tapes can and often do have problems. Not all the time, but a lot of the time.

I have about 100 reels of Scotch 206 & 207 that I purchased back in the early 1970s. NOT ONE reel of it is bad. Even though it's VERY old, Scotch 190, 150 & 111 are all fantastic tapes from the standpoint of playability. I have tapes recorded in 1953 that play well and sound as good today as they did the day they were recorded. The tape hasn't warped, shed, or become sticky in over 60 years. Yes, there's more head wear but at least you can still play what was recorded!

Other good tapes are Maxell (all formulations) & Memorex. BASF is generally good but I have had a couple of reels of the LP 50 (1.5 mil) that squealed like crazy but no "stiction" or shedding. Older reels of TDK seem to develop a white powder that sheds off and very old reels have shrunk and warped.

Most of the BASF tape manufactured in the late 1970s & 1980s with the black backing is perfect (EXCEPT PEM 468) . Same goes for AGFA.

Almost ALL of the Ampex 406, 407, 456 and grand master tape is bad & will need baking. Scotch 250 will generally need baking. However, once baked they will perform as new and if they get sticky you just bake them again. The food processor thing works GREAT!!! If you have old tapes then get out there and buy one. It's the best "tape" investment you'll ever make.
 
Should be fine. I don't think ANY Quantegy tape suffers from it. It's their updated version of Ampex 632, which was the formulation of their pre-recorded stock. I am waiting for a box of 2500' pancakes of this myself! VERY affordable - I'm going to transfer them to 7" reels.
 
Yes I think that I am looking at the same box of pancakes you bought, very reasonable price, might say great price even!! Thanks, now I can buy with a little more confidence.
 
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